American Century Companies Inc. Purchases 145,295 Shares of Li Auto Inc. Sponsored ADR $LI

Key Points

• American Century Companies Inc. has increased its stake in Li Auto Inc. by 14.4% during Q1, now owning approximately 1,150,819 shares valued at around $29 million.
• Li Auto reported $0.08 earnings per share for Q1, falling short of analysts' expectations, but its revenue grew 1.1% year-over-year to $3.53 billion.
• Analysts' ratings for Li Auto vary, with a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a target price around $28.64, affected by recent upgrades and downgrades from various research firms.

American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Li Auto Inc. Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:LI - Free Report) by 14.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,150,819 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 145,295 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of Li Auto worth $29,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Li Auto in the 4th quarter worth $544,000. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC purchased a new position in Li Auto in the first quarter worth about $226,000. Ariose Capital Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Li Auto during the 1st quarter valued at about $5,395,000. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Li Auto during the 1st quarter valued at about $296,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Li Auto by 38.0% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 488,151 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,711,000 after purchasing an additional 134,301 shares during the last quarter. 9.88% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on LI. Sanford C. Bernstein set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Li Auto and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Macquarie downgraded shares of Li Auto from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Friday. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Li Auto from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 19th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Li Auto in a research note on Monday, August 18th. They issued an "underperform" rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on Li Auto in a research report on Monday, August 18th. They set a "strong sell" rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $27.89.

Li Auto Price Performance

Li Auto stock traded up $0.60 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $24.06. The stock had a trading volume of 5,042,875 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,688,298. Li Auto Inc. Sponsored ADR has a one year low of $17.44 and a one year high of $33.12. The company has a current ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 1.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.94. The firm's 50 day moving average is $26.85 and its 200 day moving average is $26.63.

Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 29th. The company reported $0.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.09 by ($0.01). Li Auto had a net margin of 5.60% and a return on equity of 11.83%. The business had revenue of $3.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.21 earnings per share. Li Auto's revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. Li Auto has set its Q2 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Li Auto Inc. Sponsored ADR will post 0.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Li Auto

Li Auto Inc operates in the energy vehicle market in the People's Republic of China. It designs, develops, manufactures, and sells premium smart electric vehicles. The company's product line comprises MPVs and sport utility vehicles. It offers sales and after sales management, and technology development and corporate management services, as well as purchases manufacturing equipment.